Heavy-fuel vaporizer for internal-combustion engines



' Feb.Y 4,' l 930. R. F. LONABERG ET AL HEAVY FUEL VAPORIZER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES 4vSheets-Sheet l Filed March 2, 192e F'eb. 4, 1930. .RQ F. LONABERGER ET AL v 1,746,122

HEAVYl FUEL VAPORIZER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES fff/ Feb. 4, 1930. y R. F. LoNABERGr-:R z-:r Al. 1,746,122

HEVY FUEL VAPORIZER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES 4 Filed Maron 2, 192s 4 sheets-,sheet 5 gabe/ Lomme/yar; E ,l Char/ef fr. Va/7dr..

' (1....7, I. I I l r v l v v www Feb. 4, 1930. Y, n. F. LONABERGER ET AL 1,746,122

HEAVY FUEL/VAPORZER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES n Filed'llarch g, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Feb. 4, 1930 UNITED STAT-ESPATENToFFicE f ROBERT E. LONAEERGEE AND cHAELEs E.l sANEs, 0E READING, PENNSYLVANIA,

. AssiGNoEs To LLOYD A. UNGEE, TEUsTEE e l HEAVY- FUEL vAPoiizEEjEoE iNTEENAL-coMBUsTIoN ENGINES Appiieafiee mea Meren 2, 192e. -seriai No. 9i,'7s9.

This invention jaiins to provide :an ini- `proved heavy `fuel'vaporizer {fOrinternaleOinbustion engines. l I

The invention further aims to adapt such -`a f'* .5 vaporizer for use in operating internal ycombustion-engineswhich are primarily designed 'to run :on gasoline `and to facilitate starting ron va highlyivolatile ifuel.

Further aims and Aadvantages of the 'inven- 'V10 ltion appear in the following -description in connection with the killustrative embodiment shown in the accompanyingdrawings, where M l Y that the high speedvalve may be made toopen 'in response to the desired engine speed or Fig. '1 is a plan view ofa vaporizer intended '1"15 `for internal combustion vengines in automo- Vbiles, motor trucks andthe like; 1

y Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thevaporizer Yshown in Fig. 1; and f j Figs. 3, I4and 5 are verticalfsectional views spectively of Fig. 1, looking in the `direction Y. v VVof the arrows in each l'cajse.V

in lthe .embodiment er the invention 4iiieetrated inthe drawings,'referring to F igs. 3

I and 4', -we have shown a vaporizer .body 10 y having an outlet conduit 11 adapted tol be secured to -the'inlet pipe or Vmanifold of the inf outlet-'conduit 11- for controlling the flow of fuel mixture'tolthe engine. .K n

The vaiporizer 'herein shownKs'e-e Fig. 4)

has two fuel nozzles for normal operation, one

e5 -ofithemv .being a primary nozzle`V 14'to vsupply Vburner,:chamber .'16, and the. other be-ingv a y :high speed `nozzle '17, v.arranged -in thethroat 18 of a flue 19 Whichfconveys the product-s of ment is such-that `fuel issuing from the high :speed nozzle is preheated and Willmix thor-v oughly with partial products of .combustion l,from the burner before enteringgthefengine I j v15o lii-gh *speed -nozzley 17 iscontrolledby the instarting.

Ycombustion to the conduitV 1l. This Var'rangefluence ofthe engine suction. To this vend Y ave have shown a spring closedfneed'le valve 21 seated in the nozzle 17 and arrangedto be lifted from its seat upon the opening of an auxiliaryl air valve 22 which supplies air-to mixwith the high speed fuel *(se'e Fig.

4This may be accomplished by Various Inechanical connections vbut we have hereinv shown a `rocker arm 23 cooperating with the,

valve stems. The compression of the sprini'gv 6() Y 24 which normally holds the auxiliary lair valve22 'seated is preferably adjustable` so suction'resulting from such' speed." If de 55 sired this lauxiliary airvalve maybe 4locked temporarily in closed position,say,upon starting the engine, by a cranked clamp or locking kscrew' 25 (see Fig. 1)V controlled by a' flexible connection 26 lfrom a convenient point. This- Y insures the production of'a rich mixture for i An'o'ver-rich fuel mixture for the combustionV burner yis supplied thro'ughthe passage lffroni theprimary nozzle 14 and a restricted n air opening 27 (see entering an annular mixing chamber 2 8 around the flue 19, thence, passing through 'a series of openings V29 into the annular combustion Achamber 16 -which also surrounds the iiue'19. There, the 1130 ymixture is ignited by a spark'plug 30 and the liameis extinguished by causing it to travel Y through a tortuous restricted annularpas-'Y` sage provided by an auxiliary air conduit or tube 31 vprojecting into the'lower open end '185 1 fuel through fa passage 1'5 to a .combustion fof the flue 19, the' outer wall of this tube preing and idling the engine. The admission of auxiliary lair is controlled by' `a -valve 33'operable'-yfroin` a convenient point and having perforations 34 adapted `to regis-- ter with similar `perforations in a cap 35. i Further to cont-rol the auxiliary airaii'tomat` ically in response to engine suction we pro- 1 and 4) arranged to discharge into the pas-` sage 15 and supplied by arsmall tank (not shown). A valve 41 (see Fig. 5) is provided to control this nozzle from a convenient point by a crank arm 42 and flexible Wire 43.

Connected to the arm 42 is a link 44 connected to operate a cut-off valve 45 for the heavy fuel y nozzle, the arrangement being such that the two valves operate simultaneously one to open and the other to close. This enables the operator to use gasolene exclusively for a moment upon starting, then to use a part gasolene and a part heavy fuel by adjusting the valves, and thereafter to use heavy fuel exclusively. The rich gasolene mixturev readily ignites in the combustion chamber and burns with a blue flame thereby heating the device to such an extent that it will readily burn heavy fuel, the mixture being preheated in themixing chamber 28. Y Y

To preheat the fuel for the high speed nozzle 17 we provide an annular chamber 46 (see Figs. 4 and 5) below and partially sur- Arounding the combustion chamber so that the fuel readily vaporizes upon being discharged.

This fuel passes upwardly through a passage 47 (see 5) into a small tube or passageV 4S through the vaporizer wall. The lsupply passage to the chamber is connected to the Ysame source of heavy fuel supply as the nozzle 14 (see Fig. 4). y -To provide for converting ourV vaporizer into a gasolene carburetor when heavyfuel is not as easily accessiblewe have provided an annular series of fuel orifices 49 (see Fig.

i3) in the flue 19 each communicating with'an annular chamber 50 connected at one side to Ma passage 51 leading from the float chamber and this is controlled by a valve 52. Tn an emergency this valve is opened, the high speed air valve is locked in closed position and the main fuel tank may be filled withgaselene.

The operation of our vaporizer isv almost `entirely automatic except for starting, being controlled by the throttle valve as in gasolene carburetors. For starting, the auxiliary or high speed air valve 22 is locked in closed position while the gasolene valve or cock 41 is opened simultaneously closing the primary fuel nozzle 14 while the auxiliary air valve 33 is closed. When the engine is cranked,

the initial suction draws air through the opening 27, picking up gasolene from the nozzle 40 and it is ignited in the fuel chamber by the spark plug 30. After the apparatus is sufficiently heated, the gasolene is entirely cut o, the heavy fuel cut-offvalve fully opened, and the auxiliary air valve 33 is also opened. The motor can then run idly or under small load conditions on the partial products of combustion. The high speed air valve is next unlocked so that high speed fuel and air may be admitted in ,accordance with the demands ofthe motor. However, if desired, the high speed fuel valve may be so adjusted that it will remain partly open at .all times, thereby permitting a little preheated fresh fuel to mix with thepartial products of combustion while the engine is idling.

ingly kwiderthereby opening the high speed fuel nozzle 17 and the preheated fuel will be sucked in to maintain the mixture in proper proportiomthus counteracting the tendency of the auxiliary airpto make it too lean with the throttle wide open. Y j f From the foregoing description andthe accompanying drawings it will be seen that our design of vaporizer isyquite compact since.l

the high speed nozzle,combustion burner, outlet flue preheater and auxiliary air conduit are all coaxially arranged so that it may be substituted forordinary carburetors. vMoreover, this arrangement not only enables the.. device to preheat the fuel for the combustion burner, but also insures conservation of the heat produced while the vapor is passing to the intake manifold because it has a relatively small radiating surface. Further, lit produces a heavy fuelmixture that will run .an engine more economically thangasoline without producing an objectionable amount of smoke-and without preignition or knockmg. l

various changes. Y

W'hat we claim and ldesire to secure by Letters Patent ls';

1. A heavy fuel vaporizer for internal combustion Vengines comprising, in. combination, a combustion burner chamber having afsubstantially vertical outlet flue connected to the intake passage of the engine, alternative means for supplying a rich combustible vfuel mixture to the burner chamber including two nozzles each connected to a separate liquid fuel supply and feeding into an annular preheating chamber surrounding the fluer above the burner chamber and having a plurality of discharge orifices to discharge the mixture into the burner chamber, means to extinguish the flame in said burner before it enters the ,outlet flue and means to supply As the speed of the engine increasegthe.. Vauxiliary air valve 22 will open correspond` Obviously our invention is susceptible of vauxiliary air to mix With the products of combustion in the intake passage.

2. A heavy fuel vaporizer for internal combustion enginescomprlsing, 1n combination,

a combustion burner having an outlet Hue con-` nected to dischargeproducts of combustion into the intake passage of the engine, meansk for supplying an over-rich combustible fluid mixture to the burner including a fuel mixing chamber arranged to absorb heat from the products of combustion, means ,toextinguish theflame 'in the combustion chamber before it enters the outlet flue, a supplemental air conduit discharging vin said flue, and high speed fuel and air valves in said passage automatically operativey in response toV engine suction. y Y

- 3. A heavy fuel vaporizer for internal combustion engines comprising, in combination, a combustion burner having an outlet'iiue arranged to discharge products of combus-I tion into the intake passage ofthe engine, manually controlled meansto supply a rich mixture of highly volatile fuel andfair to initiate combustion in said burner, means to substitute heavyfuel for the highly Vvolatile fuel after the device becomes heated, a single manipulating device for effecting the vsubstitution, a fuel preheater chamber and fuel supply nozzle associated with the outlet flue,

`means to extinguish the ame in the burner chamber before it reaches the flue and means l to supply air to said flue for mixing With the n products of combustion before they reach said nozzles connected to suitable sources'of supply, the respective yconnections being fitted: y' With individual :valves for controlling the.Y

fuels, meansforoperating the valves,'afuel nozzle.

. 4L.v A vaporizer of the tvvofuel type having a combustion burner, gasolinel and heavy fuel preheating Lchamber associated with -the burner, a valved air supply conduit into. which the outlet flue from the burner dis-v charges, inter-connected high speed fuel and yair valves', and a passage from the preheating chamber lto the'high speed fuel valve, said chamber, outlet vflue and air 'supply conduit 'i being arranged in concentric relationship with reference to said burner, substantially yas described. y Y a .Y

In testimony whereof, We have ,signed Vour names to this specification.

ROBERT F. LONABERGER. CHARLES SANDS. 

